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U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

Isolino Vaz

Isolino Vaz 1922-1992 Painter and lecturer

Isolino Vaz was born in the parish of Madalena, Vila Nova de Gaia, on 23 April 1922.

He completed his primary education in the school in his parish, and in 1935 he enrolled in the Faria Guimarães Industrial School of Applied Arts, in the city of Porto, where he received many prizes.

In 1940, he painted his first portrait and began his professional life in the painting department of the company Empresa Electro-Cerâmica de Vila Nova de Gaia.

In 1943, he enrolled in the Porto School of Fine Arts, and in that same year he received his first award – a 2nd prize in the José da Costa Meireles Rodrigues Júnior Award. Two years later, the Gaia City Hall gave him an annual grant. He was to receive many prizes throughout his career, from several entities, for example, ESBAP, the National Academy of Fine Arts and the National Secretariat for Information.

In 1946, he was appointed teacher at the Faria Guimarães Industrial School of Applied Arts, in Porto.
Ten years later, in 1956, he presented a thesis at the end of the Painting course, entitled "Emigrantes" [emigrants], and obtained the final mark of 19 out of 20.
In 1950, he began to teach at the Soares dos Reis School of Decorative Arts, in Porto, and in 1986 at the Marquês de Pombal School, in Lisbon.

Further to painting and drawing (frescoes, oils, water colours and crayon, drawings, lithographies, cartoons, portraits and illustrations), he was also dedicated to sculpture and to the production of medals, stamps, stained-glass and glazed tiles.

Among other works, he drew in nankeen [China ink] the Coat of Arms of D. Francisco Maria da Silva, Auxiliary Bishop of Braga (1957), he painted the fresco "Fundação do Tribunal do Comércio", for the Justice Palace, Porto (1959), produced an oil painting for the Altar of the Louro Church, Famalicão (1970), and the portrait of Bento de Jesus Caraça (1978), as well as the Coat of Arms of D. José Augusto Pedreira.

David Mourão-Ferreira, whom he portrayed in 1991, sent him a card that read: "… How can I ever thank you for the excellent portrait you did of me? In addition to the very affectionate THANK YOU VERY MUCH! from the bottom of my heart, allow me to offer you a copy of my last edition of Um Amor Feliz…".

Isolino Vaz is the author of numerous illustrations for periodical publications, such as "O Tripeiro", for the special edition of "O Viajante", in support of the candidature of Miguel Torga to the Nobel Literature Prize, in 1992 (he painted a charcoal sketch of him), for the Bulletin of the Cultural Association "Amigos de Gaia"; for several magazines ("Idealeda", "Lusíada" and "Antero", commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Antero Quental); for the C.A.T. Bulletin, of the BBI employees; and for various catalogues in bookstores and exhibitions.

Isolino Vaz collected Christmas cards and other types of cards, and illustrated school books and literary and poetry books of authors such as Aurora Jardim, Amélia Vilar, Alberto Uva, Gentil Marques, Bonfim Barreiros, Rufino Ribeiro, Maria Alexandrina, Jerónimo Augusto, João Isabel, Joaquim Saraiva, Carlos Carranca and Morenito Rebelo. He is the author of the famous collection of book covers for the work by Arnaldo Gama, edited by the Simões Lopes Bookstore, which belonged to Manuel Barreira, in the 40's and 50's.

The artist also dedicated himself to comic strips, publishing his work in the edition 37 of "A voz de Ermesinde", in 1960, two comic strips in two adjoining pages, with sketches on episodes of the Old Testament.

In a time when recordings and music were in fashion and were gradually turning into products for mass consumption, Isolino Vaz also illustrated the records "Ferreira de Castro", "Aquilino Ribeiro", "Natal" (1959) and "Fátima – Cânticos" (1963), and the cover for the poem book "Bailado de Sombras", by Morenito Rebelo (1963). After the 25th April, he designed the card and poster "48 anos – Fascismo, Miséria e Terror" (1974), and in 1990 he produced a lithography with a singular portrait of Camilo Castelo Branco; furthermore, he also edited a card with a cartoon of Camilo Castelo Branco, for the Jornadas Camilianas [conferences on Camilo Castelo Branco], in em Vila Real.

Isolino Vaz produced 10 stained-glass windows for the Santo Ildefonso Church, in Porto, in 1967, stained-glass windows for the Monte da Virgem Chapel, in Vila Nova de Gaia, in 1983, those for the Manteigas City Hall building (1988) and a painting for the medieval church of Pinhovelo, Macedo de Cavaleiros. He also sculptured a figure of Christ for the Capela Nova da Madalena, in Vila Nova de Gaia, in 1970.

He is the author of several commemorative medals: 90th Anniversary of the Porto Voluntary Fire-Brigade, in 1967; 25th Anniversary of the Cooperativa "Lar Económico", in 1973; 25 April 1974; the 100th Anniversary of the Railways; the 100th Anniversary of the Porto Voluntary Fire-Brigade; Ist Anniversary of the 25 April; the 50th Anniversary of the Liga Portuguesa de Profilaxia Social [Portuguese Association for Social Prophylaxis]; the 100th Anniversary of the Valadares Parish Church, in 1975; the inauguration of the new headquarters of the Valadares Fire-Brigade, in 1978; the 50th Anniversary of the "O Comércio de Gaia", in 1980; the 100th Anniversary of the Associação Vilanovense de Socorro Mútuo, in 1982; the 50th Anniversary of the Municipal Library and House-Museum of Teixeira Lopes, in Vila Nova de Gaia, in 1983; the 100th Anniversary of the Marquês de Pombal School, in Lisbon, in 1986; the public warning pamphlet against pollution "Salvemos o Mundo – contra a poluição" [Let us Save the World against Pollution], Valadares, Gaia, in 1972, and finally "Contra a Poluição" [Against Pollution], in 1988.

He designed 9 stamps for Paraguay on the theme of Accession/Participation in the Munich Olympic Games/1972 (1971), and produced 5 glazed tiles for the Association "Amigos de Gaia" (1979).

He collaborated in several periodical publications, such as the Bulletin of the "Amigos do Porto" [Friends of Porto], and the magazine for the Porto Photography Association. As an illustrator, he contributed with his work for the magazines "O Pejão", "Lá Vamos", "Almanaque Ilustrado", "Oliva", "Portugal D'Aquém e D'Além Mar" and "Jornal Feminino". He was the artistic director and collaborator of the work "Janelas Portuguesas" (1956), the editor of the monthly publication for cultural initiation "O Meu Amigo" (1961) and a member of the Management and Editorial Staff of the Gaia Cultural Bulletin, and of the Grupo dos Amigos do Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar (1967).

He is also responsible for the famous artistic restoration of the Congregados Church, in Porto (1959).

He prefaced catalogues for artistic exhibitions, and the cartoons for the catalogues of exhibitors Jaime Palmela, Udo Kösle and Alberto Guimarães (1959).

He was a member of several juries: admission and classification jury in the 2nd Photographic Art Salon, in Porto, in 1955; the Fine Arts jury on the Dia das Colectividades, in Feira Popular do Porto, in 1958; a jury in an art competition organized by the National Secretariat for Information, in 1959, and the jury in a Photography Competition, "O Românico e o seu Ambiente", organized by the Ateneu Comercial do Porto, in collaboration with the Photography Association, in 1964.

He joined and supervised cultural and study visits, in Portugal and abroad (Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany), for schools, newspapers, for e.g., "O Meu Amigo", and cultural associations, for e.g., "Fenianos Portuenses" [a socio-cultural association] and for the Association for the Blind.

He exhibited his work abroad, namely in Mozambique and Switzerland, and in Portugal, in several galleries – Arte Nova, "DN" –, in schools – in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto, Espinho and Lisbon, at the ESBAP, the National Society for Fine Arts, Lisbon, the Dominguez Alvarez Academy, the Casa do Infante, at Cooperativa Árvore, at Clube dos Fenianos do Porto, at Mercado Ferreira Borges and the National Museum Soares dos Reis, in Porto, and also in the House-Museum Teixeira Lopes and the Municipal Library in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Between the 50's and the 90's, Isolino Vaz participated in numerous conferences on culture and education, at the ESBAP, at the Industrial and Commercial School of Gaia, at the Porto Cultural Institute, the Orfeão de Valadares, in Mesão Frio, and at the Secondary School of Alvide.

He was also an achieved sportsman, namely in athletics, and took part in several sports events and in pedagogical events associated to social causes, between 1976 and 1990.

This multifaceted artist and man of many causes died in Hospital da Cruz Vermelha, in Lisbon, on 21 July 1992. The parish council of his hometown recently paid him a tribute by suggesting his name for a street, Rua Mestre Isolino Vaz, a suggestion which was approved by the Vila Nova de Gaia City Hall.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2010)